Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the TBMB, speaks to attendees at the Arise and Build meeting on Oct. 18.

GREENEVILLE — Approximately 50 pastors, directors of missions and other church leaders gathered with community and business leaders Oct. 18 for the initial meeting of Operation Arise and Build, based on Nehemiah 2:18.

The meeting was sponsored by the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board and hosted by First Baptist Church, Greeneville. Attendees also included Monty Burks and Suzanna Hendricks of the Governor’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives Division and Carol Agee, partnership marketing/community relations specialist for Dollywood Parks and Resorts.

“Operation Arise and Build will take unprecedented commitment, cooperation  and resources,” said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of TBMB. [Read more…]

William Burton, new churches team leader and ethnic church planting specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, far left, stands with a group of Hispanic men who were aided by a ministry presented by Roan Creek Baptist Church.

MOUNTAIN CITY — As Roan Creek began to flood in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, 15 Mexican men who were living alongside the creek had to vacate their homes and find higher ground.

They gathered underneath a tree in front of the house of a member of a nearby Roan Creek Baptist Church who saw them and wanted to help. The member called her pastor, David Hankal, and asked if she could take them to the church’s fellowship hall.

Hankal immediately said yes and the church member (who did not want to be identified) and her son and daughter-in-law began ministering to the men.

They led them to the fellowship hall which housed a kitchen. Though there was no electricity, there was food in the refrigerator and freezer that needed to be used before it ruined, Hankal said. [Read more…]

Tennessee Baptist Convention president Jay Hardwick points to where the water reached the basement of Riverview Baptist Church in Newport. The church received extensive water damage.

NEWPORT — Tennessee Baptist Convention president Jay Hardwick witnessed the devastation Hurricane Helene caused throughout East Tennessee, first through news and social media channels, and then up close and personal.

“The videos and pictures don’t do it justice,” he said. “Helene ripped through Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas, and here in East Tennessee, leaving a path of destruction we have never seen in our lifetimes, but Tennessee Baptists are on the ground serving and meeting needs.”

Hardwick spent the day traveling through heavily impacted areas in and around Newport, visiting Tennessee Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers and homeowners whose houses were being gutted due to water damage caused by the flooding of the Pigeon River. The river far exceeded its banks when Helene dumped unprecedented amounts of rain on the Southern Appalachian region. Rising water ripped through neighborhoods and flooded downtown Newport at a level locals say they’ve never seen before. [Read more…]

Bill Keen, of Chilhowee Hills Baptist Church, Knoxville, and Larry Russell, of Lyons Creek Baptist Church, Strawberry Plains, discard materials stripped from a house in Newport. Knox County Association of Baptists disaster relief teams took several houses down to wall studs to enable water damage to dry and to prepare houses for mold eradication.

NEWPORT — Johnny and Sharon Hill heard neighbors shouting and looked outside to see what the commotion was about. It was water rising — and quickly — from the Pigeon River overflowing its banks more than 200 yards away and charging toward the Hills’ neighborhood.

“We’ve lived here 29 years and I’ve never seen it like that,” Johnny said. “Nowhere close. By the time we grabbed a few things, the water was gushing in.”

The Hills made it to safety, but just barely. The water level inside their house was about five feet by the time the river finally crested. Neighbors between them and the river had to be rescued from the roofs of their houses. One was airlifted by helicopter from the roof of a wooden shed that lodged itself against a power pole. [Read more…]

Phil Young, director of prison ministry at Carson-Newman University, shares a light moment with his faculty team during a fall planning meeting. The university’s prison ministry enters its second year this fall.

JEFFERSON CITY — Phil Young’s morning routine in preparing for class looks a bit different than most college professors. He arrives on site around 7:45 in the morning. 

“We go through all the normal screening that all the staff goes through to make sure we’re not bringing anything in we shouldn’t,” says Young. “We get to the classroom between 7:45 and 8 a.m. Prepare the room for the day. Students begin arriving around 8:15.” 

It’s a structured routine that the Carson-Newman University director of prison ministry and the students have become accustomed with since the university launched its prison ministry last fall in coordination with Morgan County Correctional Complex. 

Fourteen inmates comprise the group, which began its second year this fall. Each student had to apply to the program designed to offer a bachelor of arts degree in Christian studies, with an emphasis in Christian ministry. Along with applying, each student had to meet certain criteria.  [Read more…]

MURFREESBORO — Tennessee Baptists will have an opportunity to share the good news of Jesus Christ in the city where the Tennessee Baptist Convention was established in 1874. 

Two outreach events, sponsored by Concord Baptist Association and Tennessee Baptist Mission Board will be held in Murfreesboro and Rutherford County Nov. 9, the day before The Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists begins at New Vision Baptist Church in Murfreesboro and later Embassy Suites. 

The Saturday event is similar to Crossover which is held in conjunction with the Southern Baptist Convention each year, said Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board.  [Read more…]

The damage done by flooding from Hurricane Helene created a ‘total loss’ at Enon Baptist Church in Jonesborough. — Photo submitted by pastor Keith Malone

JONESBOROUGH — Enon Baptist Church weathered the storm, even though their building did not. 

Less than one week after Hurricane Helene ravaged Enon’s facilities, the church members gathered for their Wednesday night activities as normal, albeit in a different location. They met at a nearby Methodist church, where the pastor had graciously invited the Enon members to hold their services. 

Enon pastor Keith Malone said he felt it was vital for his church to continue moving forward in the immediate aftermath of the storm. 

“I told our members that I didn’t want there to be any lag,” Malone said. “I told them right away — we are going to meet somewhere. And then things all worked out with the Methodist church.” 

That is not to say, however, that the Enon members aren’t dealing with great sadness after their building was deluged with nine feet of water in the sanctuary.  [Read more…]

Jennifer Lewis (front of the line on the right) and other TBDR volunteers form an “assembly line” while making sandwiches at First Baptist Church, Dandridge.

FRANKLIN — The response by Tennessee Baptists disaster relief volunteers in recent days can best be summed up in one word: Extensive. 

That word applies to almost every aspect of the ongoing relief efforts — including the amount of time that the projects are going to take, the range of the impacted areas and the variety of assignments that the volunteers are being asked to do. 

Wes Jones, disaster relief specialist for the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board, said this is one of the most wide-spread responses he has seen in his tenure at the TBMB. 

“It rivals Katrina, maybe even ‘beats’ Katrina, in terms of its reach and its impact,” Jones said.  [Read more…]

FRANKLIN — The 2024 Summit: The Gathering of Tennessee Baptists is just around the corner and it promises to be one of the most unique annual meetings in recent years. 

Summit will take place Nov. 10-12 at Embassy Suites in Murfreesboro, the city in which the Tennessee Baptist Convention was established in 1874. 

The annual meeting will be unique in several ways, acknowledged Randy C. Davis, president and executive director of the Tennessee Baptist Mission Board. “It is our 150th anniversary and rather than just acknowledging it, we have made it a big deal,” he said. 

Davis also noted another unique aspect of this year’s meeting is that Summit will end on Tuesday night rather than its traditional conclusion at midday on Wednesday.  [Read more…]